Erectile dysfunction is a psychological or physical disorder preventing males from forming or maintaining an erection during sexual intercourse. Erectile dysfunction is treatable through the implantation of a selectively inflatable penile prosthesis within the corpus cavernosum of the penis that mechanically erects the penis. Typically, an implantable penile prosthesis comprises at least one inflatable cylinder positioned within the corpus cavernosum and operably linked to an apparatus for selectively inflating the cylinder. Generally, a first and second inflatable cylinder is placed within the corpus cavernosum. A rear tip extender, as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,808,489 to George et al., which is incorporated by reference in its entirety, can be fitted to the rear tip of each inflatable cylinder to change the effective length of the inflatable cylinder according to the needs of the patient. A rear tip extender is often necessary to insure the implantable penile prosthesis is properly fitted and positioned within the penis according to the specific anatomy of the male patient.
Rear tip extenders typically comprise a molded polymer and, as a result, cannot be inflated or changed in size. As a result, implantable penile prosthesis are often provided with a plurality of rear tip extenders having a range of sizes from which a surgeon can select the appropriate size that best suits the patient's needs. The unused rear tip extenders are often discarded, creating a considerable amount of waste. While the unused rear tip extenders are often returned to the manufacturer, manufacturers are left with large inventories of rarely used “off-sizes” of rear tip extenders that are ultimately discarded. Similarly, as each rear tip extender is individually molded, each manufacturer must produce and maintain production molds corresponding to each rear tip extender size at a considerable cost to the manufacturer. Consequently, while providing a plurality of sizes of rear tip extenders insures a proper fit for the implantable penile prosthesis, doing so prevents manufacturers from mass producing implantable penile prosthesis having rear tip extenders in a cost efficient manner.
A related drawback of individually molding different sized rear tip extenders is that each tip extender is of a fixed size and cannot be adjusted to accommodate discrete sizes between the pre-molded sizes. An important consideration with implantable penile prosthesis is that the size and fit of the prosthesis must closely match the patient's needs to prevent patient discomfort during use. Consequently, the ideal size for a particular patient is often between one of the sizes of rear tip extender, which can cause patient discomfort.